Beat your FOMO and “know thyself”
If you go around with your nose in your phone, if you need an hourly “ping” reminding you to breathe, if you’re waiting for a wake-up call of a medical emergency before you change your lifestyle, then a green tea habit might just be the thing for you.
Taking time to “know thyself” is essential in this fast-paced world. When we are so outwardly focused, checking the weather on our phone before we look out the window, seeing what our buddy had for breakfast before we eat ours, we need to develop some habits to get us focusing on ourselves again, and green tea is a simple place to start.
All this FOMO driving our every move, our self-conscious selfies, our endless documenting of the minutiae of our day is for what? Sure, it gives us a sense of importance and the resulting “likes” on our social media give us a little boost, but what are we neglecting in all this outward questing for attention?
Our little ol’ selves, that’s what.
No wonder so many of us have anxiety, panic attacks, wine habits, gym addictions; our subconscious minds are screaming out for a time-out, some attention and some recharging. Just as an infant needs food for comfort as much as nutrition, we do too.
We have 3 meals and a few snacks a day in which we can build a positive self-care habit and feed our souls as well as our bodies. Let’s begin with some green tea. It’s comforting, it’s warm, it refreshes and hydrates us, soothing our soul as much as filling our stomach.
This is such a powerful act, reconnecting you with parts of yourself you may not have accessed in years.
Remember all those hours alone as a teenager, daydreaming of the person you would grow up to be? Listening to songs on a cassette over and over again? Well you’re here now, what do you make of how you’ve turned out? Have you set the world alight? Have you made the waves you hoped you’d make? Would your 16 year old self be proud of the adult you have become?
Because we can be so busy running around on the hamster wheel of work, taking part in the organised “leisure pursuits” that we forget the whole reason we’re here. Adults need time to play, need a chance to let off steam, forget ourselves for a while. Stop feeling so important and get silly. Some days we need to dress as if we weren’t going to be documenting our lives on social media, to really live in the moment and stop pausing to record it.
Our children need us to show them spontaneity and joy, or else how will they grow up knowing they need it in their lives? Are you going to let that dance teacher show your kids a series of controlled movements, or are you going to turn the kitchen radio up loud and rock out with them yourself?
Green tea can be that reconnection. The fresh scent, that dry grassy aroma can transport you to those sun-soaked afternoons in fields, shooting the breeze with your gang. Making daisy chains, flirting, chewing on blades of grass, green is the colour of health, life and nature.
If you’re so busy you regularly forget to drink water, rarely stopping to smell the roses, maybe you need a new habit. If you commute with phone in hand, spend all day looking at your monitor, then box sets at home, you need a life, pal. You need a re-focus on your priorities.
Sit with a blank piece of paper and write for a while. See what comes. You may end up writing your bucket list, you may begin your memoirs, you might write a shopping list. I bet it will bring you back. Pen-to-paper has that effect, pulling us back to the endless, hand-cramping hours in school, writing page after page, no delete button in sight. We are laid bare on the page. Lay yourself bare. I bet you’ll like what you see.
Then make a cup of green tea. Drink it. Re-set. Only then go back into the fray. But I bet you’ll go back with a new perspective.
Ichi-go ichi-e
This beautiful Japanese phrase sums up the transience of all our encounters. Even if we meet the same people again and again, each time we share a different experience. This cultural concept is a reminder to treasure friendships and appreciate each moment as it happens.
We can’t all recreate a Japanese tea ceremony with our friends daily, but we could use a little ichi-go ichi-e to keep us present in the moment. So pour a green tea for your friend too and maybe you’ll inspire them to take time to “know themselves” too.
